Wanted not Welcome

Fr. Frank PavoneNational Director of Priests for Life

The sad tragedy of killings in Colorado recently makes many wonder, "Why are children killing children? What has gone wrong?"

Without pretending to probe the personalities, families, or other details of the actual incident that has recently occurred, there is a serious question that deserves consideration.

An increasing amount of psychological evidence points to a connection between violence committed by young people and being an "abortion survivor."

The International Institute for Pregnancy Loss and Child Abuse Research and Recovery has, for years now, pointed out the devastating effects of growing up in a culture which says that "the word person, as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, does not include the unborn" (Roe v Wade). This culture of abortion says that "every child must be a wanted child."

For those born since 1973, when the Supreme Court struck down the laws against abortion in all 50 states, that Court decision is a personal insult. "I was not a person when I was in the womb," they are being taught. "I could have been destroyed, and nobody would have complained. I am alive now because someone else wanted me. I could have died, but for the fact that my parents chose me to live."

At first glance, being "wanted" might appear to be a psychological benefit.

But think again.

People who are "wanted" are in a position of fulfilling the desires (or plans or expectations or agendas) of another. In distinction to this, being "welcomed" means that one is accepted for his or her inherent value, just as he/she is, with no strings attached. Being "welcomed" is much more healthy than being "wanted."

There are many types of "abortion survivors." Just living in a country when there is a statistically high probability that you could have been aborted makes you a survivor. Another type of survivor are those whose siblings have been aborted. Yet another type are those whose parents, in a moment of anger, say things like "I could have/should have aborted you!"

A child who is a survivor experiences a number of identified symptoms, such as survivor guilt, existential anxiety, and anxious attachment. One dynamic works like this: "I am alive because I was wanted; if I cease to be wanted, perhaps I can still be destroyed. I better do everything possible to stay accepted."

After a while, this extreme effort to be wanted becomes wearisome, and the individual can rebel by senseless acts of violence. The violence becomes an expression of their anger at being dangled on the tenuous thread of "wantedness."

Other factors, such as a sense of meaninglessness that cause one to flirt with death, can be survivor symptoms.

Without engaging in superficial or gratuitous psychotherapy, it is necessary for us to give serious consideration to the psychological dynamics that have been unleashed by the abortion culture. Nobody who is really serious about ending violence in our society can afford to leave any stone unturned in that effort. Those who can least afford it, of course, are the children themselves.

I have long thought there must be a connection between young people killing each other and abortion, although I could never explain the reasons why this is so. It just makes sense to me it would follow.

Mary Oleske
says:

4/17/2014 10:33:29 PM

I have long thought there must be a connection between young people killing each other and abortion, although I could never explain the reasons why this is so. It just makes sense to me it would follow.

Mary Oleske
says:

4/17/2014 10:33:28 PM

I have long thought there must be a connection between young people killing each other and abortion, although I could never explain the reasons why this is so. It just makes sense to me it would follow.

Mary Oleske
says:

4/17/2014 10:33:26 PM

I have long thought there must be a connection between young people killing each other and abortion, although I could never explain the reasons why this is so. It just makes sense to me it would follow.

Mary Oleske
says:

4/17/2014 10:33:17 PM

I have long thought there must be a connection between young people killing each other and abortion, although I could never explain the reasons why this is so. It just makes sense to me it would follow.

Mary Oleske
says:

4/17/2014 10:33:16 PM

I have long thought there must be a connection between young people killing each other and abortion, although I could never explain the reasons why this is so. It just makes sense to me it would follow.

Mary Oleske
says:

4/17/2014 10:33:15 PM

I have long thought there must be a connection between young people killing each other and abortion, although I could never explain the reasons why this is so. It just makes sense to me it would follow.

Mary Oleske
says:

4/17/2014 10:32:52 PM

I have long thought there must be a connection between young people killing each other and abortion, although I could never explain the reasons why this is so. It just makes sense to me it would follow.

Mary Oleske
says:

4/17/2014 10:32:51 PM

I have long thought there must be a connection between young people killing each other and abortion, although I could never explain the reasons why this is so. It just makes sense to me it would follow.

Mary Oleske
says:

4/17/2014 10:32:48 PM

I have long thought there must be a connection between young people killing each other and abortion, although I could never explain the reasons why this is so. It just makes sense to me it would follow.